Tag: dayton

I purchased the Garmin nüvi 650 GPS navigation system back in November 2007. Amazon offered a substantial discount at the time which knocked $100 off the normal retail price of $400. Still a considerable sum for an electronics gadget, I weighed my buying decision heavily, finally making the plunge after admitting I travel to new cities regularly and hate getting lost.

I have a decent memory and good sense of direction but the Garmin provides a level of confidence that makes it worth the money—especially when driving at night. The 650 model announces street names (Text to Speech) and works in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Its 4.3” screen looks vibrant and sharp in all lighting conditions, from direct sunshine to pitch dark. The touch screen provides dependable control and navigation of the well-designed user interface. It offers quick-and-convenient ways to change routes on-the-fly and track statistics such as current direction, miles per hour and estimated time of arrival.

No navigation system guarantees 100% accuracy when calculating routes either for shortest time or distance. Accordingly, no system substitutes for common sense and paying attention to posted signs. Also, it can take some time for new routes to be added. I got burned twice while in Chicago for the holidays. The first occurred because I-355 was extended and the Garmin prompted me to exit on a ramp that no longer exists. The second was the shortest time route the Garmin offered to get me from the western suburbs into the city was not the shortest or most direct.

On the flip side, the Garmin saved me in Dayton while schlepping my brother, sister and niece around in the dark. We got caught in holiday traffic on I-75. I turned off at the next exit, just north of Centerville, blindly trusting the Garmin to find a faster route. A few moments after taking the off ramp, the Garmin announced it was recalculating then immediately provided a route which avoided the expressway. I lived in Dayton for 17 years and never knew that route was there. Further, the route involved several turns that I would surely have missed while driving in the winter at night were it not for the navigation system.

If you are in the market for a navigation system—assuming the fad has not already passed—I can unequivocally recommend the Garmin nüvi 650. As long as you don’t expect perfection, you won’t be disappointed.

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TB and I have been in the Midwest visiting family and friends for the holidays. We left out last week flying from Seattle to Denver to Chicago to Dayton on the first leg. The bulk of the outbound leg went relatively smoothly despite the customary delayed, overcrowded flights. There were two notable things that happened during this part of our trip.

First, the captain of the United flight from Denver to Chicago had one of the flight attendants give me a handwritten note he jotted on one of his business cards. In it he thanked me for my loyalty to United and apologized for the delays and inconveniences TB and I had experienced. I felt special. I felt like I mattered. It only took him a few moments and about 40 words. Well done.

Second, our connection from Chicago to Dayton was too tight after the Denver-Chicago flight had been delayed over two hours. We ran from B7 to B8 (lucky!) to catch the connection only to find the jetway door closed (unlucky!) but the plane was still there and baggage was still be loaded. The flight wasn’t scheduled to leave for another 5 minutes but the gate agents and United flight operations decided to button things up early despite knowing incoming flights were arriving late. We pleaded with the gate agent. She said no. We showed her we only had carry-ons. Still she said no. I flexed my United 1K status. No dice. She directed us to the customer service line where we had to queue behind a dozen other marks.

I was livid. I wasn’t about to stand in that long line and risk not making it onto that plane which was still at the jetway being loaded with baggage. I unapologetically got out of line and went straight to the customer service desk since the woman who shot us down at the gate was now there assisting other customers. I wanted to give her a piece of my mind. She tried her best to avoid me; she wouldn’t make eye contact. I decided to take my frustration out on the more junior guy working with her. I relayed the story, flexed my status, issued hollow threats, cajoled, criticized and critiqued. I did all that without raising my voice or using colorful language. The guy offered a hotel, the first flight out the following morning and profuse apologies. I was quickly losing the battle but kept pushing for an alternative: Get me on my original flight.

It had been about 20 minutes since we arrived and I knew it was highly likely the flight had already departed or would depart soon. Just as I was about to throw in the towel, the woman from before finally came over. She chatted with the guy, barked out some orders and watched the screen over his shoulder. A few moments later, something caught her eye behind me, over by the gates, and she fired up her walkie-talkie. After a few more moments, she told the guy to stop what he was doing, told TB and me to follow her, and took us back to gate B8 where, lo and behold, the jetway door was open. She explained, as we neared the gate, the captain had requested more fuel for the plane and the flight crew re-opened to door. Since the door was now open and due to my status, they had to get me on the flight. The only problem was our seats had been given to standby passengers and the flight was full. Oops.

That turned out not to be as big a problem for us as it was for a couple standby passengers. An agent went on the plane, found two unsuspecting passengers, who thought they were leaving for Dayton on that flight over 30 minutes ago, and told them they had to go. Ouch. Two middle-aged passengers got off. One was a man, the other a woman, they weren’t together, they had checked bags, their bags would not be unloaded. They were pissed. As we boarded the plane to take those two now-vacant seats, all the passengers looked at us incredulously with a hint of bewilderment as if they were wondering, “Who the hell are they that United kicked two people off the flight 30 minutes after we should have departed?” I just smirked and took my seat. Membership has its privileges.

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TB and I visited with family during our recent trip back to my hometown, Dayton, Ohio. The highlight for me was getting a lot of time to spoil the newest addition to our family, my niece, Chyenne — no that’s not a typo, no you are not dyslexic — and my 2 year-old niece, Justice.

My sister gave birth to Chyenne on June 14, just 8 days short for Chyenne to share the same zodiac sign with me and and the majority of my family. As one might expect from a 1 1/2 month-old, she mostly ate and slept. I knew from previous phone calls with my sister Chyenne has a healthy set of lungs. That little girl can holler when she is not getting the attention she wants. She is spoiled and likes to be held while she is sleeping. I apologized to my sister then did my part to spoil her even more. I think I held Chyenne most of the time we were together during that 3 day period. She likes me. I like her.

We babysat Justice for 2 days and it was fun hanging out with a 2 year-old from sun up to sun down. That is probably because I knew I could use a lifeline and call up her mom or my sister if things got too hectic. She’s potty-trained so the only major tasks were keeping her preoccupied, fed and clean. TB’s instincts kicked in and she seemed to enjoy taking care of Justice in small spurts. TB doesn’t really like kids. 🙂

If I had to guess, TB would say her favorite moment was when we took Justice, Chyenne and my sister shopping for baby clothes and other baby paraphernalia. Justice pushed the cart and walked down different aisles, stopping at various merchandise, and holding items up against her before exclaiming, “I like ‘dis!” She did it for shirts, dresses and even blankets. It was really cute because she was actually picking out nice stuff that matched. When she found a handbag and slung it over her shoulder it was all over. We could do nothing but laugh and admire her savvy. When we relayed the story to Justice’s mom, she confirmed Justice is a world-class shopper at age 2.

I have to get my Uncle of the Year votes lined up now. In about 8 years they will be big girls and won’t have much need for an uncle, save my wallet. Of course, I will have to spoil them then too.